The Map Patrol's Favourite Remote Campsites

Our field teams travel to the most secluded reaches of Australia to gather mapping data, and while doing so have found some of Australia’s most memorable campsites in the middle of nowhere.

1. Neale Junction, WA

The intersection of two iconic Outback tracks – the Anne Beadell and Connie Sue highways – forms Neale Junction, a key checkpoint along either journey and a nearby campsite in its own right. The significance of these lonely trails meeting in the sparse expanses of the Great Victoria Desert is part of what gives the campsite such an appeal, with corrugated tracks barrelling towards endless horizons in every direction within this pristine arid wilderness.

2. Diamantina National Park, QLD

Situated in the heart of Outback Queensland’s Channel Country, Diamantina National Park is a comparatively lush paradise that’s crowned by its waterholes and the Diamantina River. These highlights are surrounded by dunes and gibber plains, and the park’s separation from other off-road hotspots gives travellers a good chance of outright solitude, save for the array of water birds and oft-hidden mammalian life that can be found around both Gum Hole and Hunters Gorge camping areas.

3. Desert Queen Baths, WA

Desert Queen Baths is an oasis in the wilderness of Western Australia’s largest national park. Karlamilyi National Park itself is almost completely devoid of facilities, which deters travellers who aren’t totally self-sufficient; both of those points, however, create the inverse effect on remote-area travellers. Those who explore this starkly beautiful part of the Pilbara and make it to Desert Queen Baths will be rewarded by the camp’s sheer remoteness, not to mention the nearby pools that endure in this desert environment.

4. Madigan Camps, NT

The northernmost route across the Simpson Desert is both a historic journey and 4WD challenge that attracts ambitious and experienced off-road travellers. Cecil Madigan’s well-marked camps largely chart the course taken by the explorer in 1939, whose epic journey is echoed in the tyre tracks and unrolled swags of modern-day travellers in this land of endless red dunes.

5. Walsh Point, WA

The considerable shadow cast by Mitchell Falls sees many travellers neglect the journey north to Port Warrender, which is home to some of the Kimberley’s most remote sections of coastline accessible by 4WD. The drive is slow and rough, but at the end are pristine camping opportunities with little to no-one around. The condition of the track generally prohibits a simple overnight stay, making Walsh Point an ideal destination for those seeking a few days in untouched surrounds.

6. Halligan Bay, SA

Halligan Bay camping area fronts Lake Eyre – a humbling sight whether the lake has water in it or not. A 62km detour off the Oodnadatta Track from William Creek, Halligan Bay’s proximity to Australia’s largest lake gives the place an atmosphere of remoteness, its flat expanses stretching out to the east while the Oodnadatta beckons somewhere to the west.

7. Windy Corner, WA

Windy Corner is the junction of the Talawana Track and the Gary Highway, where two of Australia’s most far-flung tracks cross paths in the hard landscapes of the Gibson Desert. Travellers embarking on either of these tracks shouldn’t expect to not see many (if any) other vehicles along the way, so it’s unsurprising that Windy Corner is one of Australia’s most remote campsites. The region’s red terrain, abundant spinifex and morphing desert scenery add an extra layer of isolation to Windy Corner, which is so named for the persistent gusts that kept intrepid explorer Len Beadell inside his Land Rover for the better part of five days.